Manfred Reyes Villa

Who is Manfred Reyes Villa?

Manfred Reyes Villa is a Bolivian politician, who was mayor of Cochabamba four times in a row and ran for the presidency in 2002 and 2009 against Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada and Evo Morales Ayma. He founded and led the Nueva Fuerza Republicana political party. He was also elected as the first Governor of Cochabamba, Bolivia, and served from 2006 until 2008 when he was unconstitutionally revocated By Evo Morales through a series of violent riots. When Reyes-Villas's supporters came out in his support Hugo Chávez quickly got involved seeing Morales could possibly be overthrown. He is currently living in the United States as a political exile due to his popularity with the people making him a threat to the Morales Government.